Adjustable cleaning-brush.



PATBNTED MAR.24, 1908.A

No@ 883,108. f

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

`R. T. GILLESPIE ADJUSTABLE CLEANING BRUSH. APPLICATION FILED un. s.190e.

No. 883.1o8

- PATENTE-MAR. 24 190s. R. T. GILLESPIE. ADJUSTABLE CLEANINGBRUSH.J

A-PPLIGATI-ON FILED APR.5, 1906. i 2 SHEISTS'SHBET 2.

rn: nonni: Prtns co., wAsmrwroN, D. c.

ROBERT T. GILLESPIE, OF BLOOMFIELD, NEW JERSEY.

' ADJUSTABLE CLEANING-BRUSH.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented March 24, 1908.

Application filed April 5, 1906. Serial No. 310,064.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ROBERT T. GILLEsPIE, a citizen of the United States,residing at Bloomfield, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey,have invented certain. new and useful Improvements in AdjustableCleaning-Brushes, of which the following is a speciiication, referencebeing had therein to the accompanying (ilrawing.

My invention consists of a brush or cleaning implement adapted for usein the interior of hollow vessels or other articles such as jars,bottles, cruets, lamp chimneys, etc., and it has for its obj ect to`provide a brush which may be readily inserted within the reduced neckofsuch a vessel and then adjusted so as to present the brushes against theinterior faces of the vessel at varying angles, or against the bottomportion.

My invention is designed to provide an article which may be readily andquickly adjusted. by the hand while the brush is in the interior of thevessel being cleaned so as to reach all of its parts, and capable ofbeing held in 'such adjusted position with facility and ease.

Generally stated, the device consists of a longitudinal shank portion,preferably tubue lar or of other suitable or convenient form, providedat the holding end with a thumb bearing extremity, an adjustable rodhaving a movable finger terminal in adjustable proximity to said thumbterminal and adapted for cooperation therewith, together with a hingedbrush at the other end of the shank, so connected with said rod that itmay be adjusted thereby and securely held in combination with the mainshank or stem, as shall be more fully hereinafter described.

The invention comprises certain features of improvement, advantage andnovelty in that class of similar devices shown and described. in myprior application filed November 22nd, 1905 bearing the Ser. No. 288,572and refers more particularly to the detailed construction.

Referring now to the drawings Figure 1. is a central longitudinalsectional view showing one form of the device, the brush being extendedin alinement with the main shank or stem. Fig. 2. is a plan view of Fig.1, partially broken away. Fig. is a partial view of the brush en d. ofthe device, showing the brush adjusted at an angle to the shank or stem.Figs. 4, 5 and 6 are cross sectional detail views on the lines IV. IV.,V. V. and VI. VI. of Fig. 1. Fig. 7. is a view similar to Fig. 1 butshowing a modified construction of the main shank, open at one side.Fig. 8. is a cross sectional view on the line VIII. VIII. of Fig. 7.Fig. 9. is a view in side elevation, partly in section, showing aconstruction wherein the main shank or stem is formed of twisted wire.Fig. 10. is a plan view of the handle end of the construction shown inFig. 9. Fig. 11. is a partial view of a similar construction at thebrush end, showing the shank and brush holding portion composed entirelyof twisted. connected wire elements. Fig. 12. is a detail sectional viewsimilar to Figs. 1 and 7 at the brush end, showing a further modifiedconstruction. Fig. 13. is a plan view of a construction providing forduplicate brushes. Fig. 14. is a central .longitudinal sectional view ofFig. '13, showing the brushes extended at right angles to the shank.Fig. 15. is an end view of Figf 14. Fig. 16. is a cross sectional detailview on the line XVI. XVI. of Fig. 14. i

Fig. 17. is a partial sectional detail view similar to Fig. 12, showinga still further modification. Fig. 18. is a plan view of Fig. 17. Fig.19. is a cross section on the line XIX. XIX. of Fig. 9.

Referring to the drawings, 2 represents the main shank or stem of thedevice which as shown in Fig. 1 consists of a tube, provided at itsholding extremity with a thumb extension 3 of flat or spoon form adaptedto receive the ball of the thumb. The thumb extension 3 is formed asshown of a terminalv tube 4 embracing the rear end of main tube 2,brazed to or otherwise connected therewith, being flattened out at itsrear end to provide the thumb extremity. As shown, the thumb extremityis provided with a series of transverse teeth or corrugations 5 and ispreferably rounded at the end in the form of a terminal bead 6. Thislatter feature gives a iinishing edge to the rear portion of the deviceand at the same time provides a ledge or shoulder against which the ballofthe thumb may bear.

At the other end the shank 2 is provided with an embracing ferrule 7bent into rectangular form as shown and preferably open at one side asat S, so as to provide a convenient hinge bearing for the pivoted brushbearing link 9., This link, in the princi al figures of the drawings,consists of a .at

metallic block, pivoted at 10 on a suitable in hinge between vl'latcheeks 11, 1 1, et the terrule terminal, the link being pre'l'erablyprovided with an upwardly extending shoulder 12 projecting through acorresponding opening 13 in the adjacent side ol" the Vferrule bearing.

Beyond its pivotal portion the block 9 is widened as shown and providedwith a transverse hole and longitudinally arranged recesses or grooves14 adapted to receive the embracing wires 15. These wires are twisted.together beyond such connection as at 16, engaging the assembledbristles et the brush, as will be readily understood.

An especial Vfeature of advantage of this construction is that the tighttwisting of the wires will hold them into engagement with the grooves.14 whereby the rigid mounting of the brush holding wires with the block9 is insured, thus stiil'ly connecting these elements.

The block 9 is provided with a transverse opening 17 somewhat beyond thepivotal bearing 10, with which is connected the ter- .minal of anoperating rod 1S extending backwardly through the tulmlar shank 2 andprovided with a finger holding loop 19 which may be conveniently made ofsheet metal attached to the rod 18 in any suitable manner. The 'face ofthe linger loop 19 is corrugated as shown at 20 so as to interlit withthe corrugations 5 of the thumb terminal 3, the corrugations being ofany suitable form, either V shaped, rounded or otherwise. l/Vhen theseparts are pressed together, as can be readily done by the thumb andlinger, or which may be normally eilected by the inherent resiliency ofthe parts, the movable brush may be held immovably in Fixed relationwith the main stem at varying angles, so as to temporarily constitute arelatively iixed construction. This feature of the invention is of greatadvantage in relieving the iingers from the strain of holding the artsin adjusted position and will greatly tacilitate the operation andhandling of the device.

The construction shown in Fig. 7 is generally similar to that justdescribed, except that the main shank 2 is in trough 'ferm whereby it 1sopen along one side as indicated at 21, being formed of a bent strip ofmetal, braced at one or more peints along its length by an encirclingferrule 22, or in any other suitable manner` Otherwise the constructionand operation is substantially the same as just described..

In Fig. 9 I have shown a modified iorm of the device in which the shank23 is formed of twisted wires, the end. terminal of the shank comprisingmerely a loop 24 'Exedly connected with a hinge terminal portion 25formed of thin sheet metal bent generally in the same form as the lirontpivotal mounting portion of the construction shown in Fig. 1, providingembracing cheeks 26, between which the brush holding block 9" isembraced and to which it is pivoted as indicated at 10. 27 representsthe operating rod of the device, pivotally connected in the same generalmanner with the block 9 as at 2S, extending backwardly along the shank23 and passing through one or more loops 2Q formed by strands ol" thewire which project o ut from the main body portion. At the rear orholding extremity of shank 23, it is designed in any suitable manner toprovide a flat grasping terminal 30, indicated in Fig. 10, the wirestrands being woven or plaited and incidentally providing a roughgrasping surface. The rear terminal of rod 27 is bent around into loopform B1, extending upwardly through a suitable aperture in the thumbholding extremity, whereby the other extremity may be manipulated andheld with relation to the shank extren'iity as will be readily apparent.

In Fig. 11 l have shown a main stem or shank 23/ formed oi twisted wireas just described, terminating in a loop extremity 24 upon which ispivotally lmounted at 32 the rear twisted extremity 33 of the brushholding wire stem 34, adapted to be thus pivot'- ally mounted at theouter end of the main shank in the same general manner as already setJforth. The twisted wire brush holding extremity of rthis constructionis also provided with a laterally projecting loop 35 extending beyondthe central portion of the shank, with which is pivotally connected theterminal of the operating rod 27, whereby the brush may be manipulatedin the same way.

ln Fig. 12 the construction shown is generally similar to that alreadydescribed as to Figs. 1 and 7,theblockQhavingone or more laterallyprojecting cheeks 36, to which at 37 is pivotally connected the terminal38 oi the operating rod 39, the construction otherwise being the same asalready described.

Figs. 13, 14 and 15 illustrate a construction wherein l employ asimultaneously operative pair of brushes l), l), the main stem or shankportion ot' which may be of any suitable torm or construction,overlapping each other side by side and pivoted at 40 between the cheeks41 'forming the end terminals of' the main tubular shank 2b. Said shankis 'formed in substantially the same way as the tubular stem of Fig. 1,but for the purpose of reinforcing the extremities or cheeks 41, theseparts are doubled upon themselves, the outer layers being extendedbackwardly and brazed or otherwise secured to the main stem, as clearlyshown in Fig. 13.

The operation of the brushes is effected by duplicate rods 42, 42,pivotally connected to blocks 43, 43, at 44, passing backwardly throughthe hollow stem 2b and terminating in the looped extremity 45. Thehollow stem 2lD is provided at its back portion with Cri a flat thumbholding portion 46 of the same general construction as alreadydescribed, with which the looped extremity 45 may be held in varyingpositions. As thus constructed the device will operate in the samemanner as will a single brush, the double brushes being capable ofsimultaneous adjustment to laterally extending positions as shown inFig. 14, orto longitudinal alinement with the hollow stein, as in Fig.13.

In Figs. 17 and 18 I have shown a still further modification in whichthe pivoted block 47 is pivotally connected. at 48 between. the terminalcheeks 49 of the main shank 2C and is actuated by avstem 50 pivotallyconnected at 51 to the rear terminal extremity of block 47 by means ofan eye 52 of loop or circular form. Said eye, projecting outwardly andacross the edges of cheeks 49, positively limits back travel of stem 5()and consequent movement of block 47 and the connected brush, whereby itmay be held in longitudinal alinement as shown in F ig. 17 withoutfurther limiting abutments or stops. The adjustment and manipulation ofthe brush otherwise is the same as in the other forms.

By reason of the constructions shown, the brush may be made of few partsof simple and cheap construction; it is very strong and durable, notliable to get out of order, and the entire apparatus will be found to begenerally well adapted and eliicient for the objects in view.

What I claim is:-

1. In a brush," the combination of a main shank adapted to surround andguide the operating rod and having a holriling terminal provided. withcorrugated locking faces, a longitudinally movable operating rod mountedwithin said main shank and having a rear loop, also provided withcorrugated locking faces arranged for cooperation with said holdingterminal, a brush block pivoted at the other end of said main shank andpivotally connected with the operating rod and provided with a doubledbristle-holding wire extending forwardly and spirally twisted together,and bristles mounted between and held by twisted portions of the saidwire, substantially as set forth.

2. In a brush, the combination of a main shank adapted to surround and.guide the operating rod and having a holding handle pr'ovided with anenlarged rounded terminal, a longitudinally movable operating rod.mounted within said main shank and having a rear finger loop locatedadjacent to said rounded terminal and adapted to be pressed against theholding handle for fixedly holding the handle and operating rod.together by the operator, a brush block pivoted at the other end of saidmain shank and pivotallyvconnected with. the operating rod at one sideof said pivotal mounting, and so arranged whereby the pivotal connectionbetween the operating rod and the block will limit the travel of theblock to extreme positions substantially in longitudinal alinement withand substantially at right angles to the main shank respectively, adoubled spirallytwisted bristle-holding wire connected with andextending forwardly in alinement with the block, and brush bristlesmounted between. and held by said. twisted wire', substantially as setforth.

3. In a cleaning implement of the class described, the combination witha holding shank provided with connected terminalcheeks', of a brushblock pivotally mounted. between, said cheeks and having a shoulderedbracing portion adapted to act against the connection between thecheeks, a brush structure consisting of a bristle-holding wire Apassedthrough the forward portion of said block and spirally twisted togethersecuring the brush bristles between said twisted wire portions, and anoperating rod connected to the brush block laterally of the pivotinghinge portion, extendingbackwardly along the main shank, and providedwith a finger terminal, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I aHix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ROBERT T. GILLESPIE. Vitnesses:

GrUir T. WHITNEY, ARTHUR LnN'rnAUssnn, Jr.

